


Onionshipping slow burn/enemies to lovers? wack.

by kindapoggers



Category: No Straight Roads (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Love Realization, M/M, Might add more tags as the story progresses, Slow Burn, first fic so im sorry if it sucks, teen and up cause cursing exists and i dont want 10 y/o cursing in front of their parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27714524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kindapoggers/pseuds/kindapoggers
Summary: Y'know those tropes where there's two characters who hate each other but when they finally think about it they start to realize they're in love? Yeah that's basically this
Relationships: White | Rin/Zuke (No Straight Roads)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 85





	1. Here we go :D

When Mayday told him that they were going to have their first collab with a NSR artist he was excited but after getting into more details he started to dread the idea of it. He thought they got an offer from Sayu, or DJSS, hell maybe even Eve but 1010 was not what he had in mind. He didn’t hate them nor did he care much about them he mainly just tried to keep his distance, especially from the white one.

“Come on Zuke! We’re gonna be late!”  
He sighed and looked at her in the most pained and annoyed expression he could muster  
“I know, just know that I’m not exactly going to be as active or attentive as usual.”  
She flapped her hands while giggling uncontrollably; completely ignoring what he said “Yeah yeah yeah just hurry up and let's go!!”

-

The shift from the calm and warm colored Natura to the dark and neon colored distric always caught Zuke off guard but Mayday didn’t seem to mind in fact it seemed as if she was already busy hyper fixating on the district, eying anything that seemed new while she ran over towards the mansion. But before he was even able to process the shift in aesthetic they were already there.

“Hello!” Mayday leaned onto a metallic box attached to the gate.  
But just as she leaned in, a bunch of voices came together with a simple  
“Who is it?” followed by some stifled snickering and hushed giggles in the background.  
“It’s us Mayday and Zuke, y’know the duo you invited over to do a collaboration with.”  
“Sorry never heard of them”  
Zuke annoyed and tired walked up to the box and said in his stearnest voice “Come on you guys knock it off you know why we're here”  
After a moment of silence the mic turned back on with some grunts here and there; low and behold their manager was there “Ah! Sorry for the hold up you two I thought my troops were mature enough to handle a simple task such as opening the gates for you two but they seemed to prove me wrong. Anyway come in!”  
The duo stepped back as the gates opened up and Neon J waited for them at the entrance. As he gave a small tour of the place he gave the small stories of his time during the war; none of which they listened to but it did make some good background noise while they looked around the place. Most of the mansion was painted in white with black accents at the bottom, the floors were obsidian colored tiles with little accents of glitter at the bottom making them shine like stars underneath the blaring lights.

Waiting in the living room was none other than the boys themselves all of them scattered everywhere doing their own individual thing. Rin and Purl Hew on one side of the coach talking about who knows what, Haym and Zimelu played a rather very intense match of what seemed to be a fighting game one that neither band member knew of, and then there was Eloni laying on the floor watching them play.

“Attention!”  
On instinct they all stopped what they were doing and lined up saluting them both.  
“I can’t believe the state you left this room in especially with the fact that we have guests over. But enough of me scolding you, you all know why they’re here and I expect you all to be on your best behavior. Especially with that little joke you all pulled earlier”  
He shot a look towards Zimelu and Haym who just so happened to be staring at the floor.  
“Anyway let’s go into the meeting room where we can properly plan this out.”

Mayday ran ahead with the rest of the band members probably to find out if they have any interests in common or to gawk at how cool they are.  
But then that just left him and Rin. They were behind a fair amount so they essentially had each other for company something that neither of them were looking forward to.

Zuke rubbed his arm as he tried to avoid eye contact and asked literally anything to stop the silence  
“So how did May convince you guys to collaborate with us? I mean I assume you refused at first right?.”  
“I ask myself the same thing, but if I’m being sincere I do hope that our little rivalry for each other doesn’t get in the way of this. You and I both know how excited everyone else is about this so let’s try and not ruin that for them alright?”

Now that he pointed it out he got to thinking why did he hate them, more specifically why did he hate Rin in general. The most interactions they had with each other was when they fought and beat them but other than that there wasn’t anything to feed the flames. I mean he does get defensive over her every now and then but that’s only because he sees her as a sister, so there’s not much to off from there. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Zuke’s eyes looked forward to the hallway and noticed that Mayday was walking towards them  
“Hey guys!”  
“Hey May”  
“Hello beautiful~” Rin winked as he smirked while Zuke just stared in disbelief.

Well everything he thought about before has been thrown out the window and there he goes again back to square one.

-

The meeting was rather mundane but Mayday and the others kept it interesting every now and then with whatever recommendation or idea they had up their sleeve. Him and Rin on the other hand preferred to stay silent and only spoke up whenever they had an idea as well or were asked something.

By the time the meeting ended everyone was tired and it was already around 11. Most of the shops by then were closed and the districts were a lot quieter with the exclusion of the occasional indie bands faintly playing their hearts out in the background.

Neon J took them back to the entrance until he made a rather kind offer  
“Well look at the time it’s rather late for you two to be walking back home. How about you two stay here and rest? You can leave early in the morning if you want.”  
“Thank you sir but tha-”  
“Woah woah woah hold on Zuke he’s got a point it is rather late to be out” She wrapped her arm around Zuke’s and looked up at him with a hopeful smile  
He knew how much this meant to her and replied  
“Y’know what staying here won’t be a bad idea”  
May ran back excited as ever to the living room while Neon J and Zuke followed her.  
“Since you’ve both already gotten familiarized with the first floor I’ll leave it to the boys to help you get to your guest rooms.”  
“Again thank you so much Neon J!”

1010 ‘discussed’ over a round of rock paper scissors over who’d guide them around the mansion which ended up with Mayday and Haym then Zimelu with Zuke. Great. It wasn’t as bad but still he got stuck with one of the more rowdier members of the group.

-

All he had to do was follow him but instead Zimelu thought it'd be great to race instead and now he’s lost knowing god knows where. He tried calling May a couple of times but she’s either fast asleep or hanging out with Eloni, so the second best option was to try and do a somewhat decent job in retracing his steps. While it didn’t seem to work out at first he ended up finding himself near the backyard which gave an even more promising sign when he saw the blue band member outside hanging out by the pool.

He walked out and took in the warm breeze as he approached Purl Hew.  
“Won’t the water mess with your insides?”  
“AH! oh hey aren’t you supposed to be sleeping or something?” Purl Hew took out his legs out of the water and crossed his legs  
“Yeah but your brother made me get lost, but that still doesn’t answer my question though.”  
“Hmm? Oh yeah” he laid his head on his hand as he closed his eyes “Not really captain made us waterproof so we can handle stuff like this” 

The pool glowed as they sat in silence for a while but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as it was with Rin. Here it felt mutual like they both just wanted to enjoy the silence the city had to offer.

“You two were pretty intense today.”  
Zuke looked up confused until it clicked in his head  
“Ugh yeah sorry about that I tried to keep my cool but it’s hard” Here he was thinking that he hid their unspoken anger towards each other only to find out that it was visible for all to see.  
“Don’t worry about it, I know Rin can sometimes be a lot to handle. It's just that I’ve never seen him so worked up over someone” He stood up and stretched”Just know that he cares about us ok and after you hijacked our concert he’s been on guard ever since.”  
Zuke never took into consideration on how the events before could’ve affected them but now he’s starting to get the bigger picture.  
“Well I guess it’d be better that I help you find your room instead. Zimelu is probably busy doing his own thing”

As they both walked into the surprisingly dark kitchen Zuke noticed a faint glow down the hallway, he would’ve told Purl Hew had it not disappeared in a blink of an eye so he decided to forget about it. He tried to not focus on that and instead which tried to think about his next course of action. A) how does he try and start a decent conversation with someone who very obviously hates him and B) how to not make it seem sudden and out of nowhere.


	2. Stubbornness just happens to run in the family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin is being salty but turns out that there's another reason for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright quick thing if you see these [ ] just know that they mean that these are the characters internalized thoughts. Also thank you so much for the positive feedback from last chapter it really means the world to me <3<3<3

The meeting dragged on for what seemed hours but at least May and his brothers made things interesting. But he couldn’t help but not stare at Zuke. It wasn’t out of admiration but more of… disgust? Hatred? Annoyance??? Well whatever it was it was one of those 3 maybe something else for all he knew. But it didn’t matter for all he cared they could leave and he’d be fine with that so long he could be back to his happier moods instead of wanting to lock himself in his room like an angsty teen.

* * *

_“Hey Rin”_ He smiled with his arm behind his head offering the nicest smile he could offer

_“What did you do?”_ Rin asked sternly as he crossed his arms

_“Jeez can’t I talk to my favorite brother without being- Alright you know what yes I fucked up but it wasn’t my fault in theory”_

Rin squinted his eyes as his mood got even worse

_“Ok listen before you kick my ass out of your room I just need a simple favor that requires someone else's help”_

_“Depends. What is it?”_

_“Help me find Zuke. I know you have some weird thing goin on with him but please just help me find him and I’ll do whatever you want for the rest of the week”_

_“Ugh are you kidding me! You just had to take him to the guest bedroom but instead you ended up losing him. How did you even manage to do that? Besides can’t you get Eloni or Purl Hew to help you out with this instead of me?”_

_“Ok first Purl Hew is a no go, Eloni probably cried himself to sleep or something and I may have challenged him to a race without warning him first”_

_“Fine but if we get caught by dad I’m blaming you”_ Rin rubbed his eyes while looking down

_“Thanks!”_

A good solid 30 minutes have passed and he’s searched almost everywhere he could think of and still no sign of him. Maybe someone else helped him. He walked from the West wing but came to a stop when he heard some talking.

He put his guard up and lowered his brightness which left him partially blind but it didn’t matter as long as he could still hear he’d be good. The first voice was easy to recognize as Purl Hew’s but the other was more deeper and quieter in fact. Rin walked closer to the edge of the corner and realized it was Zuke’s.

_[Well at least I found him but why is he with Purl Hew?] He got more on guard as he remembered the events from the hijack.]_

_[Sure I’m not a weapon of mass destruction like my brothers but at least I have some one on one combat thanks to Dad.]_ Before he knew it he was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice them coming closer towards him

_[Oh shit]_ Rin ran across the hallway back to his room hoping that they didn’t see him. God the last thing he’d want would be for them to think he’s lurking around the house like a weirdo.

Rin quietly closed his door and threw himself on his bed. He sighed and looked out the window next to him as his systems started shut down.

_[Maybe I’m just overreacting. I shouldn’t be this protective over them, they can take care of themselves]_

* * *

Rin walked out of his room in a much lighter mood and retraced his steps from last night to get to the kitchen. There on the dining table he found Haym and Eloni chatting away and Zimelu bothering Purl Hew, he greeted everyone while they all waited for their captain. A few moments passed and Neon J stood at the doorway getting ready to announce whatever they would be doing today.

_“Troops! I am pleased to announce that yesterday's meeting was a success, despite some minor mishaps that happened.”_

While no one actually did it Rin couldn’t help but cringe from last nights interaction with Zuke.

_“On another note related to the collaboration I will have you all know that our next meeting will happen on Wednesday. That’d be all”_ Just as everyone got up and started to get ready to do their own things Neon J said the one thing Rin didn’t want to hear

_“Also Rin make sure to meet me in my office in 10 minuets.”_

Rin stiffened and subtly gripped his chair

_“I- yes sir.”_

* * *

Rin stood in front of the two dark wood doors. Every piece of him wanted to run away but he knew he couldn’t. Nothing bad would happen and he knew it. He’d just get scolded that’s all, so why was he so damn scared. Was it because of the fact that the oldest and “most responsible” member of the group was throwing a hissy fit about being in the same room with some he didn’t like? Maybe but that didn’t matter now, besides he was sure that he’d been standing out there for a solid 5 minutes.

Rin sighed as he pushed open the doors and saw Neon J sitting at his desk doing whatever paperwork Tatiana assigned him.

_“Good morning again sir”_

_“Ah Rin you finally came”_ Neon J put his paper work aside and shifted his focus onto him. “I’m assuming you know why I called you here seeing how I semi called you out on your behavior from yesterday”

Rin gave out an annoyed sigh _“Yes sir and I’m incredibly sorry for acting like that. I can assure you that it’ll never happen agai-”_

_“It’s not your fault”_

_“What?”_

_“Look ever since you came back online you’ve been feeling more... overprotective towards me, your brothers, and you’ve been wanting to obey my orders rather than your own free will right?”_

_“I- yeah I guess. But what does that have to do with anything?”_

_“You see when I repaired you and the rest of your brothers you were the one I had the most trouble with and with the factory destroyed I had no other choice but to use some parts from your MK1 counterpart as a substitute for your current body. Meaning that most of your new emotions and personality traits are most likely coming from your old self.”_

A moment of silence came upon the two as Neon J gave Rin some time to process his current situation.

_"So what? Am I going to stay like this forever?"_

_"Not exactly; you see there's another way that we can fix this. If you want I can again temporarily deactivate you and make a new body from scratch so that you won't have to deal with this."_

_"No way. It almost took you 2 whole months just to get all of us to function again and I'm not going to waste your time just because I have a few new personality traits."_ Rin crossed his arms and repositioned himself to stand taller _"Besides you have more important things to work on"_

Neon J stared at him before letting out a chuckle.

_"What's so funny?"_ Rin stopped as Neon J put his hand on his shoulder

_"Oh nothing, you just remind me of someone I used to know."_

Just as Rin was about to head towards the door Neon J stopped him to tell him one final thing.

_“Before you go just promise me one thing."_ Rin's eyes opened up as he got his attention _"I know that you’ve already made your decision about the personality but please go and make amends with that boy.”_

Rin opened his mouth as if he would say something more important but instead came out a disappointed

_“Of course sir”_

_“Alright then dismissed.”_

* * *

Rin sat alone in the living room slouched on the couch while the tv played in the background.

[Make amends? For what the fact that he beat the hell out of me and my brothers? That he made you work twice as hard just so that you could bring us back online? Hell if anyone has to apologize it should be him not me.]

Rin jumped as he felt someone else throw themselves on the couch. He looked to his left and saw Eloni staring right back at him doing that focused look whenever he was trying to figure something out.

_“Uh hey El”_

_“Rin! Glad you’re finally out of your deep thinking”_ Eloni smiled at sat normally on the couch

“Yeah sorry about that I was just um thinking. So what’s up?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to watch some tv with you”

“Oh alright then”

[No way that I’m ever apologizing to him. Even if it hurts dad I just won’t do it.]

Wait I’m not obeying dad’s orders! I guess my stubbornness is something that’ll never go away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so if anyone noticed I feel like more things happened here than last chapter so idk if I'll keep shifting the povs from Rin to Zuke each chapter. Also bet that by next week I'll die because of school lmao
> 
> Edit: Updated and fixed chapter 2 so poggers also sorry about that I'm still new to AO3 so I'm still trying to figure something out so sorry in advance ://


	3. Forgive and Forget?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuke finally figures out a way to apologize to Rin but some parts of their conversation start leaving him confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special shoutout to @/InPrisonForSparkling for helping me edit this chapter please go check fae out!

The week went by quickly, much to Zuke’s dismay, as he wasn’t really able to form an actual proper apology within the week. But, like last time, the duo went out to Barraca Mansion as they had the week before.

-

May told him that the meeting probably wouldn’t be as long as last time, but he didn’t actually expect it to be _this_ fast. What was expected to be a 3 hour meeting with the occasional breaks every 45 minutes or so turned out to be an hour long meeting, and right there in front of him stood the only person he had been trying to once again avoid.

Rin stood tall and proud. He looked happy as usual, but in a different way - it didn’t seem forced like Zuke had seen in their prior interactions but instead seemed so much calmer, even natural to an extent, but that's beside the point. Rin happened to catch a glance of Zuke heading his way and departed from the group he was in, face going neutral but eyebrows raised in an interested fashion. 

_“Hey Rin-”_ Zuke began, but his voice cracked. _[What was that-?]_ Zuke’s face went into a darker shade of green as he gave an awkward smile.

Rin stared at Zuke looking like he was about to burst into tears with laughter.

 _“Hi Zuke, what’s up-?”_ He turned away to let out a snicker which didn’t exactly help Zuke regain his confidence

 _“I wanted to uh- um... apologize, actually.”_ That got Rin’s attention. He stopped and looked at Zuke but not in annoyance like the previous times but in genuine interest.

_“Look, I know you and I aren’t exactly on good terms, but... I’m sorry for what we did to you and your brothers back then.”_ Zuke scratched the back of his head while he looked down

 _“I know it doesn’t mean anything, especially after all the work we made your captain go through. You don’t have to forgive me or accept it but as long as we’re able to land on good terms and not get upset just by thinking of each other then that would be enough”_ He looked up and noticed Rin intently lost in his thoughts.

A silence washed over them and just as Zuke was about to give him time to think about it alone Rin spoke.

_“Fine I thought about what you were saying and I agree.”_ He started to walk towards Neon J _“But that doesn’t mean you won’t be on my mind.”_

Zuke stood in the same place until it finally hit him _[Hold on he thinks about me???]_

-

The duo were escorted out of the mansion but eventually agreed to stick around the Metro Division just to see if they could grab anything to eat while they were there. They walked through the neon lit district and ‘talked’ whenever raging fans throughout the district decided to quiet down every now and again. Right now was one of those moments, Mayday started to pick up her pace and walked closer to Zuke she rubbed her hands together 

_“Soooo~ I saw you and a certain robot talking to each other”_

_“Woah hold on- are you talking about Rin? Cause nothing happened we were just talking”_

_“Hah you outed yourself out! Where’d you get the idea that I said you two were flirting?”_

_“Damn it...”_ Zuke rubbed his forehead as his face turned dark green again

Mayday had a playful smirk across her face _“So what happened?”_

_“Look I just decided that I should’ve apologized for what we did to them back when things were still tense between us and NSR. I guess we’re ok since he said he forgives me but he never said if he’s sorry too so it’ complicated in a way”_

_“Oh! Oh..”_ Mayday’s face became disappointed when Zuke confessed and he took note of that

_“What’s wrong?”_

_“Nothing! I'm glad you two are on good terms but I just thought that you too would at least be friends. I just didn’t expect someone as charismatic as him to hold grudges.”_

_“I’m with you on that but did you really think we’d be great friends after that apology?”_ Zuke ruffled her hair 

“Hey you don’t know that!”

-

After an unsuccessful adventure throughout the Metro Division looking for a restaurant they eventually decided to go with Aunty and try one of her newer plates she made a few days ago.

They were back in the sewers finishing up their take out and watching the news to see if anything interesting happened while they were in their meetings but it was only the usual interview with Tatiana on how NSR was planning on powering the Qwasa and said artists coming out with their new merchandise, or planned concerts but what surprised them was that 1010 didn’t seem to show up or even be mentioned once throughout the news.

_“Huh that’s weird right? You’d at least think that Neon J or Rin would be vocal with our upcoming collaboration right?”_ Mayday stretched and looked at Zuke

 _“Well yeah but I don’t think a lot of fans would be fond of that especially after we wrecked them during the revolution.”_ Zuke got up and started picking up his trash

_“True I mean if Rin could hold grudges then what are the odds they can’t either”_

Zuke walked over to the trash while Mayday switched through the channel in hopes to find something interesting. _[May has a point though I guess it would be nice to be friends with him.]_

A feeling of happiness washed over him but he simply brushed it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAOOOOO I TOLD YOU GUYS ID DIE AND IM BACK LITERALLY A YEAR AFTER. IDK ABT YOU BUT THATS HELLA CRINGE ON MY BEHALF ANYWAY AS ALWAYS IM SUPER THANKFUL IF YOU READ IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!! <3<3<3<3<3  
> Also super sorry if some stuff repeats idk why AO3 keeps doing that :/ just tell me if it does and I'll fix it when I wake up!


	4. "You good?" "No"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fr Rin you doin ok over there?

Rin slid down the wall as he rubbed his face in pure embarrassment as he realized what he told Zuke.  _ [ _ _ But that doesn’t mean you won’t be on my mind??? WHAT WAS I THINKING- _ _ ]  _

He sighed and got up as he decided to go far from everyone before they could see him, and to make things even better his cheeks didn’t stop glowing. He speed walked throughout the mansion, but just as he was one corridor away from his room he saw none other than...

_ “Haym! What- uh, what are you doing here?”  _ He cupped his face in the worst way possible as he tried to find a comfortable position to stand in.

_ “Hey Rin- you good?”  _ Haym walked towards him with a confused expression.

_ “Of course I am! I was just practicing some new poses for our next photo shoot; whenever that is.” _

_ “Cool I guess. Well anyway did you want to go downstairs and watch some tv with me?” _

_ “Thanks but no thanks. You see it’s super tiring when you spend all day looking as handsome as me~” _

_ “Whatever man” _

Haym went downstairs and once he was out of sight Rin let out another sigh of relief. He walked away to his room and laid on the floor. His metallic fingers tapped the wooden floors as he tried to figure out what exactly went “wrong”.  _ [Ok so first he apologized, I took my time and made a final decision, and then what I just accidentally flirted with him and left? God this is such a nightmare.]  _ He scratched the wooden surface and got even more upset as he couldn’t figure out what happened until...

“ _ Hey Rin can I come in? _ ”

Rin sat up in surprise [Eloni?] “ _ Uh... yeah? _ ”

Eloni walked in and stared at Rin before a smirk came on his face “ _ Wow you’re that worked up over him? _ ”

“ _ HUH?? ELONI WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN- _ ” He got up and shook Eloni forward and backwards till he responded.

“ _ Haha I was only kidding, calm down! _ ” Rin hesitantly let him go as he crossed his arms and stared at him in annoyance 

“ _ Have you ever considered that maybe that’s the reason why you don’t have a fanbase? _ ”

“ _ Ok first off ouch and secondly why’d you get so defensive over my joke? _ ” Eloni sat on the bed as he invited Rin to take a seat with him

“ _ Wh- I- I’m only defensive cause you caught me off guard. _ ” He ignored Eloni’s offer and started pacing around the room

_ “That’s not exactly the response I wanted but- still, whether or not you’re thinking of him the way we see it, it’s pretty obvious he’s on your mind 24/7.” _

Rin stopped dead in his tracks, put his hands on his hips and stared directly at Eloni “ _ Hold on- we? Did you and everyone else just decide to make a little club behind my back just to theorize about my feelings for Zuke? _ ”

“ _ I mean yeah. We were bored and just wanted to see what would happen between you two- Oh my god you're doing dad’s pose.”  _ Eloni tried to hold in his laughter while Rin’s cheeks glowed even brighter than before.

“ _ Ok you know what get out _ ” He forced Eloni off his bed and started shoving him out

“ _ Nooo~ Listen before you slam the door on me just know that Purl-Hew starte- _ ”

He didn’t know what to do now that he was alone again.  _ [Damn it why did Eloni have to make this complicated...]  _ He got on his bed and curled up into a ball.

_ [No wait none of this would’ve happened if Purl didn’t start it. Did dad even tell them about what happened when he was rebuilding me?] _

He pulled out his phone and browsed the news. He found out that Neon J hasn’t said anything about the collaboration but it figured neither of them would want BBJ to get constantly harassed by the media just because they were working together. Rin got up and headed towards the door with one thing on his mind, and that was to get answers from Purl-Hew.

* * *

It was dark and serene with only light blue undertones coming from the strip lights hidden around the room. Purl-Hew sat on a bean bag as he worked on a sample base track for their new album. But he started to hear something that sounded like faint footsteps, he ignored it at first but before he knew it the door swung open.

“AAAH-” Purl-Hew fell back and slammed himself against the floor.

“ _ YOU! _ ” Rin angrily walked towards him. “ _ WHAT DID YOU TELL THEM?! _ ”

“ _ I have no idea what you’re talking about. _ ” He fixed his sunglasses while trying to get up before Rin cornered him.

“ _ Oh, you know exactly what I’m talking about. _ ” 

Purl-Hew got up and ran to his bed in hopes of having a type defense against his brother. 

“ _ You went ahead and made everyone think that I like Zuke. Why?? _ ” Rin stood on the other side of the bed but seeing him up close he wasn’t angry he seemed frustrated instead of angry.

“ _ Look I just saw potential and said what I thought, but everyone else made their own assumptions about it. You can’t blame me for something I can’t control! _ ” Purl-Hew started to slowly lower his guard as Rin tried to come up with a response.

“ _ I-I know it’s just that- I... _ ” he eyes darted across the room as if he’d find the answer somewhere. He let out a sigh of defeat and fell face first on the bed.

“ _ You good? _ ” Purl Hew laid next to him.

“ _ No. _ ” Rin let out a muffled scream which got a chuckle from Purl Hew “ _ Do you ever hate being lonely? Like do you get bored from staying here or not talking to anyone for most of the day? _ ”

“ _ Sometimes, but when I do, I just go out and find one of you guys. _ ” He took off his glasses and placed them on his chest.

“ _ Do you ever doubt how you feel about some people? _ ”

“ _ Well, yeah. When I first met Tatiana, I thought she’d beat me if I looked at her the wrong way, but she turned out to be pretty cool. I used to think DJ was a prick but we got used to him especially after him and dad got together. But this isn’t about them is it? _ ” 

Rin shifted position as he laid on his back to stare at the ceiling. “ _ Yeah... _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this angst? Idk it's too mild for me to notice lol. Anyway lots of love and thanks to @/InPrisonForSparkling <3 and another thanks to you guys who are still reading love you too :D


	5. OOOO NOW WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE

Morning broke through the city, the sun slowly warming the once cool streets. Zuke found himself up and early eating breakfast. His mind raced as he got excited of going back to the mansion, even though he was still hesitant about his feelings he still managed to push through the morning without giving it too much attention. He assumed he was only excited because he’d be taught a thing or two from Neon J. 

He looked at the time and decided to leave before the streets got busy. Zuke enjoyed the sounds of the city as it slowly woke up it came along with the visuals of the early morning. He always loved the peace that the city had to offer in its early hours.

* * *

There wasn’t much going on at the mansion and surprising to him it was relatively quiet. He expected to hear the occasional faint chaos the brothers would make but nothing came of it. He saw Neon J coming around the corner as Rin trailed behind him.

“ _Zuke I’m glad you could make it! I’m sorry that the message was last minute but Rin told me that you would probably be interested in something like this._ ”

Rin looked away as he “nonchalantly” crossed his arms, though his cheeks were saying something else.

“ _Really? I’m surprised he even mentioned me at all._ ” Zuke walked towards them

“ _So was I, but I guess he’s learned a thing or two from being with you guys for the last couple of weeks._ ” Neon J gave a chuckle as he walked ahead of the two.

“ _Hey um thanks for telling him about this, but when did you learn I was into engineering?_ ”

“ _No problem and I heard you comment something similar about it to May the last time we met so I figured you would’ve been interested._ ” Rin stopped crossing his arms and walked more confidently.

[ _He was listening? I didn’t even think he’d do something like this especially after the way we’ve been acting towards each other._ ]

Zuke shyly smiled at him and for once Rin smiled back.

* * *

Neon J was finishing up his rather long and tedious explanation before leaving the room he looked back at the two.

“ _Well if you need anything just tell Rin to send me a message._ ”

“ _Wait Rin is going to be here with me?_ ”

“ _Well of course he is; someone’s gotta keep the boys up and running when I’m no longer around._ ” 

Rin’s face shifted from annoyance to Zuke’s comment to absolute concern. It was obvious he was hurt with that comment, he looked like he was about to say something but instead stood still and stayed quiet. Neon J walked towards him and hugged him, they stood there for a few seconds until Rin responded with a simple “ _Yes sir_ ” as he let go.

“I’ll check up on you two when your time is up.” and with that he left the room and acted like nothing happened.

* * *

The room was rather spacious and had enough room for the both of them and at the center laid a table with spare parts they’d need for whatever they were working on. It was rare that they would go to the table at the same time but this was one of the few instances when it happened.

Zuke walked towards the table, his mind too busy to focus on what was going on in his surroundings.

[ _Ok so the 12 teeth was too small so I’ll have to get a size 14 inste-_ ]

Before he knew it he tripped on something but by some miracle Rin instinctively catched him and pulled him towards him the speed causing Zuke to lean on him.

“Wow _I can’t believe it! Is it possible that Rin is finally starting to warm up to me?_ ” 

Rin smirked. “ _Ha! In your dreams~_ ”

He held Zuke by the waist as he got into a proper standing position.

“ _Well the Rin I know surely wouldn’t have catched me the way you did._ ”

Rin’s cheeks glowed bright and let go of Zuke “ _Well maybe you don’t know me as well as you think._ ”

He winked. God did that wink get to him. It wasn’t like the other winks where they felt fake and something he’d give to a fan but instead more natural. Like if he actually meant what he was saying. They let go of each other as Rin let out a shy chuckle. They both went back to their respective areas to work on whatever they left but god did he have a new distraction now.

The silence wasn’t deafening like the other times but instead relaxed. Both were finally comfortable with each other’s presence and it felt nice. Yeah, he wouldn’t mind staying like this a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I meant to post this on Valentines day but instead were here at 4 am. Anyways I'm sorry for not uploading in like a month things happened so I've lost most of my creative juices but here I am to bring you guys this and hoping that you guys enjoy it! (also sorry if this feels short lmao)


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